Apple to finalise acquisition of Shazam

Apple is set to finalise its acquisition of Shazam, the mobile app that offers elusive track-IDs to more than 120million active monthly users.

The deal, which we first reported on last year, is thought to be worth some $400million dollars, and will go ahead despite an investigation by the EU which stalled the proposals after concerns were raised by several countries in the bloc, including Austria, France and Spain.

Fears centred on the potential dangers posed by Apple to competitors in the streaming market if the tech giant introduced new features to Shazam that could work alongside its Apple Music service, which claims 50million subscribers and counting.

“After thoroughly analysing Shazam’s user and music data, we found that their acquisition by Apple would not reduce competition in the digital music streaming market,” said Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition.

"[A]ccess to Shazam’s data would not materially increase [Apple's] ability to target music enthusiasts and any conduct aimed at making customers switch would only have a negligible impact,” she continued.

Once the acquisition has been made, Apple will have access to Shazam's user base, and its standard-setting audio recognition patents. For more on this subject read our feature about track ID-culture.